Институт Дружбы народов Кавказа

History

The history of the Caucasus Peoples` Friendship Institute Foundation

The Institute of the Caucasus Peoples` Friendship was established in Stavropol in 1993 by a famous modern scientist - economist Boris Konstantinovich Tebeyev. It was his idea to give the educational institution this name – the Institute of Peoples` Friendship of the Caucasus( ИнститутДружбыНародовКавказа – ИДНК, IDNK). The name which later became the expression of the philosophy of the educational process of the Institute. Educational programs chosen in the area of Humanities - (Economics, management and psychology) responded to the public interest of that time. The Institute adopted and introduced – a bit prematurely - the European education system, and it was the first time in the city and region that the students were trained for the degree of a bachelor, which allowed in the period of four years to train economists and psychologists for the needs of the region. The Institute was established the lowest tuition fee of 100 rubles per year. This opened the doors of the Institute to school with different levels of well-being. So the first enrollment was very competititve.

At this time the Institute had another mission, it was to support the scientific elite of the region, to enable the teachers who could not provide their living on the salaries of an Associate Professor, a Professor, and who were forced to leave the education system at that time.Well-known scientists Professor Alexander Leaders, Professor Yuri Frolov, who came from Moscow State University and delivered lectures for the students were among the first lecturers of IDNC. They laid traditions of the Faculty of Psychology at the Institute. A group of scientists from Australia was specially invited for delivering lectures on management. Three professors from the University of Sydney were delivering lectures and giving master classes for future economists, managers within the period of two months. Simultaneous interpretation was provided by an enthusiastic teacher Professor Anatoly Reshetov. The lecture rooms were overcrowded when the lectures on Economics were delivered by the founder of the Institute Professor Boris Konstantinovich Tebeyev. The students were very enthusiastic and enjoyed them very much.

Traditionally, the opening word in the beginning of each school year is provided to Ulanbek Usenbekovich Magomedov, because he delivered the first lecture to the students. Professor Yuri Rafaelovich Tumanyan,who is one of the students` favorites, has been working at the Institute since the day of its foundation. And a large number of wonderful teachers of the higher school were employed and they founded the culture of education at the Institute and determined the high level of standards among the staff of the teachers.. The years went by. In 1997 the University has been accredited, the number of graduates increased. New specialties, their range were expanded.The graduates of the Institute determined its viability and success.Another landmark was the opening in 1998 the full-time Department and the faculty of International relations, which has become the pride of the Institute.

The first impulse in the development of the culture of educational work of the Institute was the invitation from Moscow of a producer Oleg Sbyshevski to create the Students` theatre of variety miniatures. The first full-time students staged a mini-performance on the motives of “Master and Margarita" based on Bulgakov play and this brought the students of IDNC to the level beyond the one of a province. The breadth and depth of the problems disclosed by a presented performance determined the fate of many of the graduates of those years. Almost all of the first graduates were able to avoid patterns of thinking and to find the strength to overcome the obstacles of those difficult nineties. Since then, it is possible in the activity of the Institute for any student or an employee to have the right to uphold his or her principles..The governing body of the Institute, looking ahead, assessing the future and trying to be prepared for it planned the development of an Institution not only as a chamber of the educational institution, but also as an institution included in the global transformation processes.To see the possibilities, unnoticed by others, to get creative ideas, to search for the original forms of teaching - only this made it possible to identify and ensure the success of the Institute in the situation of the negative attitude to the system of private education, existing at that time in the Russian society.The Institute opened new, unusual for Stavropol specialties, such as: "Theology", "Public relations".

Rarity of selected range of the programs provided by the Institute determined the originality of its graduates` success. Among them:• the Archbishop of Pyatigorsk Theophylact;• The Bishop of Yakutsk Roman

• Archpriest Valentin (Korneev) -- Dean of the Orthodox churches in Karachaevo-Cherkessia; •Abbot Andrew – Rector of Yakutsk Seminary• Priest Eugene (Shishkin) - Secretary of an Academic Council of Stavropol Theological Seminary;• Yurchenko, A. – head of administration, Budennovsk;• Serov IV – head of the administration of Oktyabrsky rayon, Stavropol;In 2005 the first in the South of Russia students` Church - the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatyana was opened at the Institute.. The church became a new stream of spiritual and moral orientation in the activity of the Institute. Archbishop of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz Theofan ( today a Metropolitan of Chelyabinsk) announced the first Monday after Easter as the day of the Orthodox youth of the region. Since 2007, on this day, young members of the Orthodox Church meet together at the Institute when music of spiritual choirs is unusually touching and it fills the walls of the Institute.It has become a tradition to hold on this day a competition named " the Bright angel"

Every year on January 25, on the day of St.Tatiana, the feast day of the Institute Church special celebration which includes the Liturgy, traditional student festivities take place.. Since 2005 in IDNC pilgrimage center "Vera" has been working. There is a tradition to arrange common pilgrimage trips of the teachers and the students. There were trips to the Solovetsky Islands, Valaam, Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, mount Moses, the Holy Land. A great achievement of IDNC was the purchase in 2000 of its own new building and the construction of the gym which resulted in the achievements of the Institute in different kinds of sport, one of them being mini-football. For several years IDNC has been the holder of the ATB Cup - the most prestigious sports competition in Stavropolkray. IDNC was more than once a winner in sports competitions among the universities of the region, held in 8 kinds of sport.In 2009 - 2010 the team of athletes, as well as the prize-winners of competitions in Russia - volleyball and basketball teams have brought a lot of victories to the Institute.A great role in this was played by the head of the Department of physical culture and sports Maslennikov A. YuThe interest to the Institute displayed by the inhabitants of the region resulted in the enrollment of gifted youth who promoted it at the market of services in education area. Personnel policy determined the need of opening of a postgraduate course in three specialities - Economy, Management and Psychology. This required the employment of new personnel. The interuniversity agreements with the Southern Federal University, Volgograd State University, private schools of Moscow State University and other leading universities of Russia, Europe and Asia were signed and implemented. Our own strategy of scientific socialization of the Institute allowed the researches of IDNC to have a ties with the Eurasian club of Scientists, to become members of the Free Economic Society, the International Union of economists, the European club of rectors, Academy of Business, this opened the opportunity for the scientists of the University to find their place in the world scientific community. Numerous awards distinguishing the many-sided activity of the Institute, a gallery of portraits of the teaching staff, the brightest representatives of modern science being among them, wonderful material base, information support of the educational process and happy faces of the students - this is the result of a commitment of the staff of the Institute to occupy the best leading place.